People 250S against the Italians

[blue65]

Hi, Not getting any responses here, so I'll keep it simple. How does the People S 250 compare  against the 250cc Italians. Surely some of you have shopped them all before you chose the Kymco. Any thoughts? Thanks.

[spr0k3t]

Never owned an Italian scooter... however they are probably one of the largest markets for scooters (Italy that is).  I hear that to own an Italian scooter is to know the art of scooter mechanics.  Reliability wise, I've been very impressed with Kymco.

[TechGuy]

Blue I am not sure what you mean. 

Are you comparing a metal bodies Vespa or some of the other "Italian" scooters? Many of the Italy-based Piaggio branded scooters, that are similar in look to the P250 and P250S, are made in China.  This specifically means the plastic bodied scooters. All the Vespa scooters are metal bodied and assembled in Italy using parts from all over the world.

The P250S, while I have not ridden it specifically (I own a P250 vintage style), is a large wheeled scooter that may be compared to Scarabeo, BV (Beverley), or the SportCity.  It is my understanding the P250 and P250 are designed to be similar to the 'beo and the BV. Comparing the P250S and the 'Beo, they are likely to ride in very similar ways. 

I am going to guess the Kymco will be less expensive to buy and less expensive to won long term. 

I feel the Kymcos are more reliable than most of the Piaggio brands. K is nearly to the same level of build quality and reliability as the Japanese brands. IMHO, the Italian brands are not quite at this level when it comes to reliability. They may be there as far as fit and finish.

[axy]

I had Beverly 200 before Kymco, did 25.000 kms with it and now my ex. work colleague is driving it, it is 8 years old and has 30.000+ kms.
Gf has Piaggio NRG 50 and I had another Piaggio NRG 50 before too.

Several things, electricity wise, went wrong on Beverly during these 25.000 kms, but they were minor things like LCD clock, or long beam switch.

Italian scoots are known to be riddled by problems, but it seems that both my Kymcos, and the third Kymco I owned previously were even more riddled with problems.

While Piaggio's issues are usually electricity related with rock solid mechanics, Kymco uses poor materials, has poor finish, it is prone to rusting and to my surprise, has mechanical issues that Piaggio did not have.

Additionally, spare parts for Kymcos cost at least twice the cost of spare parts for similar Piaggios (at least for me, I live 60 kms from Italy).

Given the choice Italian vs. oriental, I would consider only price, availability of spare parts, warranty and proximity of reputable service shop, because they are equally bad.

Scooters seem to be the very bottom of vehicle industry in terms of quality.

Here is my "online diary" since I bought People in Jan 2009. http://www.kymcoforum.com/index.php?topic=554.0

[gregspeople250]

Ditto!  Well described.  I'll go back to Japanese for my next scoot', but really enjoy my People 250.  FWIW, my People 250 has 14KM and has had no mechanical issues.  I've done quite a bit of mechanical work with it (maintenance only) and feel that I can honestly/humbly comment on engineering and build quality.  It's clear from castings, etc that the quality is not as high as Honda/Yamaha/Suzuki's.

[Lonicera]

I'm a wee bit belated, but I found this lovely post about the People S vs the People vs a Vespa...
http://www.justgottascoot.com/people250s.htm

[Portland Steve]

Style and price.
I would argue that the Vespas are the best looking scoots available and they seem to set the standard on aesthetics.
I had an ET4 150cc Vespa and it was pretty and went well, but since I have been riding a Super 8 150 I can make a comparison.

While the Vespa is better looking, it was smaller than the Super 8 and I looked like a big ape hanging off it.  I sold it to a pretty lady and it fit her well.
The Super 8 is lighter, better balanced and stable at higher speeds, faster and almost half the price of the Vespa.  It is easier to work on in some respects.
I like the looks of the Super 8 and while it is a bit zoomy looking, it works.  The previous owner had removed the horrible stock graphics that come with the bike.

If you buy a Vespa, get one used, so you can sell it for what you paid for it.

Get a Kymco if you want to save some cash and still have a dependable bike.